60% of rural Indian women busy with housework, study reveals

Around 64 percent of urban women are engaged in domestic work compared to 60 percent in rural areas among women aged 15 and above, according to the latest National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) report.

A larger proportion of urban women are exclusively engaged in domestic work than their rural counterparts, a government survey has revealed.

Around 64 percent of urban women are engaged in domestic work compared to 60 percent in rural areas among women aged 15 and above, according to the latest National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) report. On top of this, more women in urban areas say they are engaged in domestic work out of personal choice than in rural areas.

The 68th round (July 2011-June 2012) of the survey found that about 64 percent women in urban areas and 60 percent in rural India who were involved in domestic work did so because there was "no other member to carry out domestic duties". The fact that more urban women gave this reason could be because of the growing number of nuclear families and nobody being available to share domestic duties, unlike in rural areas.

Interestingly, around 34 percent rural women expressed willingness to accept other work if it was made available to them at home, while only 28 percent in urban areas said the same. In both rural and urban areas, only 8 percent women were not required to spend most of their time on housework.

Among those who were willing to work from home, the most acceptable work was tailoring. And 95 percent women in both urban and rural areas preferred to work on a regular basis.

Among women who expressed willingness to work from home, 41 percent in rural areas and 29 percent in urban areas reported the need for initial finance on easy terms while 21 percent in rural areas and 27 percent in urban areas asked for training to take up the desired work.

The 2011-2012 survey found that the proportion of women doing housework had stagnated over the years in urban areas as compared to rural India. The proportion of women engaged in domestic duties increased from 45.6 percent in the 2004-05 survey to 48.2 percent in 2009-10, but it remained almost unchanged between 2009-10 and 2011-12.

On the other hand, in rural areas, the proportion of women involved in housework increased from 35.3 percent in the 61st round to 40.1 percent in the 66th round which further increased to 42.2 percent during the current survey.

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